rdesktop and MochaSoft

[Joseph Heenan]

Peter Honeder wrote:

> First of all I have successfully received a free (not even postage) copy 
> of the full source code of the WinAdmin RDP client. At the time where I 
> have received the copy, the developer *maybe* has fulfilled the GPL but 
> has definately broken the NDA with Apple regarding the SDK.
> 
> This brings me to my second point: Apple updated its NDA to exclude 
> released SDK versions, which brings the developer of WinAdmin to a 
> better position as he sends out the source code and will not have any 
> troubles regarding Apple.
> 
> My question now (refering to the *maybe* from above), which I am unable 
> to solve, is:
> does the GPL in the case of rdesktop forbid the development of 
> applications for the iPhone because a development agreement with Apple 
> has to be established before someone can on his own successfully build 
> and run source code on the device itself?

To me, this seems to be within the letter (and perhaps also the spirit) 
of the GPLv2. It is no different to systems where the only compiler 
available is commercial (which use to be the case for many commercials 
unixes). The GPL specifically mentions that the distributor is not 
required tools that are ordinarily part of the OS, like compilers etc.

I have a feeling the GPLv3 may have a different stance though; mainly in 
it's "anti-tivoization" clause, but I suspect a more detailed study 
would be necessary.

Joseph